


Girl Scout Joy

by FawnoftheWoods



Series: Not Alone Anymore [28]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Avengers, Gen, Team as Family, girl scout cookies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2020-05-01 16:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19181860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FawnoftheWoods/pseuds/FawnoftheWoods
Summary: Steve Finds Something that has endured from his time.  Not just endured, but grown.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is in response to a facebook prompt and can stand alone.
> 
> The avengers line-up is post CAWS with Phil Coulson :)

Steve sighed as he put the shirt back down.  He hated shopping for clothes. Nothing fit and it was all so expensive now.  Usually he let JARVIS and Tony deal with this but he'd heard Bruce talking about supporting local artists and he wanted to meet them.  The street fair seemed the perfect opportunity. Except, no one stocked his size for long.

That was why he was here, wandering early.  Technically, the fair didn’t start for another few hours, but he saw the set up as he returned from his jogging route.  A few vendors were already set up and helping their neighbors, while generally gossiping. Steve gave them a smile before moving on.  He wasn’t quite keen on being identified just yet.

“Hey Steve.”  At Bruce’s soft voice, he jumped.  But the scientist merely reached out with a hand as Steve grinned his way.  “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Steve ruffled his own hair in a huff, “just trying to stay under the radar a bit.”

Bruce smiled.  “Ah. JARVIS said you were out here.  Clint dragged Tony away from his coffee to see the set ups so they’re here somewhere too.  I came along to make sure Tony didn’t kill Clint before he found some coffee.”

Steve sighed with a fond grin.  “How long has he been up this time?”

“Only 13 hours.”  Bruce chuckled as he fingered a candle on a stand.  “He crashed hard after the overseas trip with Pepper so he slept through most of yesterday.  Which meant…”

“That he had to work through the night.”  Steve shook his head. 

“Anyway, Tasha said she’d catch up once she heard from Phil so I agreed to keep the pranks to a minimum until then.”

Steve eyed him skeptically.  “ _ You’re _ going to keep the prank to a minimum?”

Bruce gave him a cheerful grin and Steve felt himself relax and decide to just wait for the fun to begin.

* * *

They had arrived at the other end of the fair just as the starting time was approaching when Steve saw a booth he really had to stop at.  They’d seen Tony and Clint hovering by the coffee discussing the stage set up for music with what looked like crazed technicians. But otherwise, both men were waiting for the fair to open up before truly perusing.

Then he saw the sign.

Girl scout cookies had been big before the war.  In fact, the local troop was the only way Bucky’s sister had been able to eat sometimes.  Winifred had opened her kitchen to the troop while she worked and they’d helped keep Becca fed.  Even after the war started, the Barnes family never regained financial stability and when Bucky left for training, Becca had joined the trainers in the girl scouts to help sell war bonds.  

Steve hadn’t had girl scout sugar cookies once since the start of the war.  The shortage of milk and butter made the cookie making difficult. The shortage of sugar and chocolate had added to it until most troops, including the Brooklyn ones, had switched over to calendars and war bonds.  Becca had been tireless in trying to keep the girls involved and moving.

Steve could see her now, urging them on.

Of course, the flashy colors and bright boxes didn’t look like the wax wrapped packages he remembered leaving the Barnes house.  But he could see the excitement in the girl’s faces. The pride at handling money and making a sale to the vendors who stopped by.  

“Steve?”  

Steve hadn’t realized he’d stopped walking until Bruce tugged on his elbow gently.  Steve looked at him, surprised to see a concerned expression. He blinked, then blinked rapidly, realizing that there was wet forming in the corner of his eyes.  He smiled and grabbed Bruce’s shoulder.

“Come on.  I want some cookies.”

* * *

Steve didn’t know how there could be so many cookie flavors.  One of the adults told him that the “shortbread” were likely to be closest to what he remembered, but the original recipe wasn’t used anymore exactly.  Although Steve thought it was sad the girls didn’t get to make the cookies themselves, it didn’t erase the look of pride he saw in their faces as they sold their lot.

“Oh!!!!!  Its Girl Scout Season again!”  Tony’s chirped behind him.

Clint chuckled, “We’re hunting Girl Scouts now?”

That had Tony leaning forward next to a brunette giving him an unimpressed look.  “Shhhh, be vewy vewy quiet. I’m hunting Hawkeyes!”

The girl broke into a bright grin and several of the other girls giggled as Clint eyes him in suspicion, though Steve was certain he could hear the whisper.  Tony shot him a grin before turning back to the group. Steve could see three or four girls behind the table, having no room for selling. Tony gathered them together and started whispering in their ears.  One by one the girls turned to look at Clint with grins and giggles and even Bruce was starting to look a little nervous.

One of the girls, who had been trying to sell Steve cookies for the last few minutes, tapped his hand to get his attention.  Steve only took his eyes off the drama scene for a moment, but when he looked up again, Clint had a girl on his shoulders and one on each arm, all laughing.  

Eventually Clint slid to his knees with a dramatic cry of “Auntie!!!”  Which earned him some looks before he continued, “I cry Auntie!”

Steve and Bruce both snorted as the girls, and Tony, rigged a pair of backpacks on the spy before the man lifted a girl on his shoulders.  The three girls and Clint then took off, walking the increasingly busy street calling out about cookies for sale. 

When Steve turned back to the table, he saw one of the mothers talking to Tony, both smiling.  Turning back to his purchase, Steve handed his helper a twenty to get his boxes of cookies. 

“You need Thin Mints.”  Natasha’s voice made him jump out of his skin.  He looked around and saw Phil talking with the mother.  Tony had since gotten distracted by the brunette who was shaking her finger at him sternly.  Tasha continued as if Steve had answered her, “Thin mints are important. You must freeze them where you can’t find them and then eat them when you find them months later.”

Natasha looked so serious, Steve couldn’t tell if she was joking, but then Bruce started to nod and Steve had the sneaking suspicion she wasn’t.

“Of course, And the Samoas go best in ice cream.”  Bruce was nodding next to him.

“Ice cream?”

Bruce handed the girl a few twenties of his own and she wrote his name down on an order form after Tasha’s.  “Yes, you dip them in milk shakes, but in a pinch a bowl of ice cream will work too.”

Steve just blinked at him as Phil came over.  “Nat, please find Clint and let him know I’m limiting him to 15 boxes of Smore’s and he’s NOT allowed to store them in the vents.”

Natasha grinned and vanished into the crowd, on her way to find the archer.  Phil turned and handed a hundred to the girl with the cash box. “Those 15 boxes for Clint Barton and the remaining in Thanks-alot for Phil Coulson.  Same address as these two.”

Steve blinked as Phil bought a massive amount of cookies.  Phil glanced at him, a light blush stealing across his face.  “I have afternoon tea as meetings. They are the perfect compliment.”

Bruce shook his head at the agent and they immediately started a debate on tea, which two of the girls and a mother joined in on.  Steve looked down at his bag of cookies.

“Hey man!  Tony said I’d find the team here for lunch.”  Sam’s bright voice jolted him out of his thoughts.  Steve glanced over as Sam almost squealed. “Yes! Hey, I can order for the VA!!!!”

Steve watched as Sam, and Tony once he’d heard, filled out an order of each kind of cookie for the VA.  When they finally handed the paper, and a check over, Tony looked at the list and squawked.

“Why would you need so many Lemonades?!?”  

Sam grinned, “Are you kidding?  All that running, the best way to celebrate after is a pale ale and lemonades.  Its the best of both worlds!”

Tony sputtered, “No!  Pepper would kill me if I didn’t defend her ritual.  Its Do-si-dos and a glass of reisling! That’s a drink and a cookie!”

Sam snorted.  “Then why pray tell, are you ordering so many Tagalongs?”

Tony’s face looked downright red at that.  He finally muttered, “because no other cookie melts on your fingers right.”

That drew laughter from most of them.  The gaiety increased when Clint returned with Natasha and Thor, who had apparently spotted him.  This necessitated a cookie tasting session, whereby Thor proclaimed the Toffee-tastic to rival his s’more poptarts (but not his brown sugar poptarts).  Tony had simply rolled his eyes and added it to the list. Steve was starting to wonder at the amount that would be arriving at the tower when they came in. 

Sam found him on the bench nearby, staring at his boxes.  “You okay?”

Steve glanced at him with a wan smile that left upon the serious regard of his friend.  “Am I doing it wrong?” He held up the bag of boxes he had bought. No where near the number of the others.  

Sam shook his head.  “No, Steve. And don’t worry about the others entering a food coma either.  A very small amount of the money actually goes to the troop itself. Most goes back to Girl Scout headquarters, or the bakery I suppose.  But the big sales will help them. And Tony mentioned that he’d donate equal to the number of boxes sold for a camping trip for the girls.”

Steve looked down, again wondering if he should by more boxes.  Sam leaned back. “Part of the fun is as you eat them, people trade.  Clint is definitely going to swipe some of Tony’s Tagalongs, because they are best eaten early on.  And then Clint will give in to Tony’s whining and share his S’mores. Thin mints are best frozen and last a long time, but many of the cookies are eaten early on. But everyone forgets about the shortbreads.  So you give one to everyone and they see how awesome they are, even moreso because there aren’t a lot of them. Next year, they’ll buy more.”

Steve chuckles and Sam claps a hand on his back.

“Sounds like I should save one box for when everyone really wants them.

“That’s the spirit!”  Sam chuckled and glanced over at the party that had started, with various members of the public trying to navigate to the cookie table bravely.  “By the way, Tony and Clint got a moment alone and then placed another order, you wouldn’t happen to know about that, would you?”

* * *

The girl scout cookies were a hit.  Phil’s office did indeed always have tea and a few cookies.  Bruce and Tony debated on the safety of Tony eating his Tagalongs melted on his often unclean hands.  Clint hid his cookies in the vent twice, with JARVIS and Tasha tattling to Phil respectively, before he found a better hiding place. 

Steve tried to ration, but outside the shortbread cookies in his apartment, the rest were less on board with this.  Also, they’d taken to placing cookie boxes in random places around the common room and they were surprisingly bad for resolve.

The most memorable was when Tony and Clint accompanied Steve to meet with Fury early right after the delivery.  Steve always went early to discuss command decisions with Fury and Coulson. Something Col Rhodes had recommended.  This time Tony and Clint joined him on the quinjet. It wasn’t until after the full meeting, when Steve and Fury were returning to Fury’s office to get some papers, that Steve found out what they had been planning.

Though Fury didn’t, in fact, bat an eye when they walked into the office to find a wall of cookie boxes surrounding his desk.  He may have expected something like this. Instead, as Steve stared at the complex stacks in amazement, Fury circled the construct for a minute before pulling two yardsticks out of a corner and gently moving several rows of boxes from a corner, without toppling any of them.  This allowed him to get to his chair, which had enough space, and open his drawer for the papers they wanted. Steve took the papers, face still stuck on astonishment, as Fury booted his computer and started working, still surrounded by the bright yellow boxes.

“Need anything else, Captain?”  Fury asked implacably. Steve just hook his head and headed out to join his team.

And if he smiled when Phil complained later about difficulties in handing Fury paperwork and Fury explaining that it  _ was _ Phil’s job to keep Clint and Tony handled, well, he was only human.

Besides, this way Fury was always eating cookies when he visited


	2. What Girls are Made of

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony had invited the girls to SI tower to sell cookies. Here they are!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request by [Krafter2014 ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krafter2014/pseuds/Krafter2014) Thank you for the comment! And I guess this story won't leave me alone yet.

Girl scout cookies, Steve discovered, were a force of nature to rival the biggest puppy-dog eyes.  What had begun in 1917 as a way to teach young girls valuable business and money-managing skills, had turned into a subtle and enduring fad of culturally acknowledged cuteness.  That was Tony’s explanation when Steve had pondered the creative ways the girl scout cookie boxes that they had brought home from the fair interspersed throughout Tower life.

Currently he was watching as Clint crumbled s’mores cookies into a breakfast bowl of milk as cereal and then repeating the process with Bruce and Tony.  Neither of whom, in his opinion, needed more sugar.

“Sir, your Troop guests are here.”  JARVIS’s announcement was met with a whoop of glee by the engineer.  He sprang up, Clint barely catching the half full cereal bowl in the process.  

“I’m coming J!  And let the mailroom know!”  Tony cheered as he pranced out of the room.  Steve sighed as he looked at the remains of breakfast not eaten.

“JARVIS, has Tony eaten  _ anything _ of nutritional value in the last 12 hours?  Coffee doesn't count.”

“Sir had half a box of tagalongs 13 hours ago.  Nothing since.” 

Steve rolled his eyes and set about re-purposing the breakfast omelette into a tortilla with ketchup.  “What is he on his way to do? Is it something he can eat during?”

“Sir invited all the girls in the Girl Scout Troop 495 to tour the offices and sell cookies today.  He is downstairs greeting them. I will notify Miss Potts of Sir’s alarming nutritional need.”

Steve snorted and boxed up the omelette as Clint cheered and downed his cereal * _ cough _ * cookies * _ cough _ * faster.  The archer yelps as he sprang for the nearest vent cover, “Dibs on escorting the girls through level 24!”

Bruce chuckled and collected the dishes as he finished his own over-sugared breakfast.  “Come on. Tony said he’d set up some fun stuff with the biolab on 34 for the girls and I want to help.”

Steve grinned and shook his head as he followed.  He grabbed Sam’s arm as the man returned from his shower and dragged him into the elevator.

* * *

Natasha and Phil were already on the ground floor when the girl scout troop entered.  Phil quickly made himself useful in helping the receptionist get everyone’s IDs and name tags in order while they notified Pepper and Tony.  

Pepper took control of the group almost immediately, welcoming them to Stark International, explaining some rules about only entering doors that their pass opens for them and asking JARVIS if they get lost.  She had just finished, hopefully, when the elevator opened and Tony swanned in.

“I thought I heard of an infestation of cookies!  Pepper, what on earth have you done this time? Are these new gnomes for the hydroponics garden?”

Many of the girls giggled as the whole group shouted, “Nooooo!”

Tony looked momentarily stunned.  “No? No...hmmmmm” Tony paced a moment before he snapped his fingers, “I know, this is the order of Oompa Loompas for the lower labs.  Right?”

The girls giggled more as Pepper shook her head at them from behind a hand.  Tony blinked at them, flabbergasted. “Okay, I’m a genius, but I’m confused. Pepper!  CEO of my…”Tony trailed off at Pepper’s half-serious glare. Instead Tony ducked his head behind a hand and whispered to the troop, “I probably shouldn’t finish that.”

“Tony, these are the Cookie businesswomen.”  Pepper finally said.

Tony frowned, glancing at the girls, just as Steve, Bruce and Sam exited the elevator further behind him.  “Businesswomen. Are you sure? Well, lets check.”

Tony reached into his pocket and brought out a pad of paper that Natasha was certain had nothing written on it.  “Businesswomen wear professional outfits.” Tony glanced around and looked at the troop. “Okay, they’ve got that.  A good uniform is the best start.”

Tony cleared his throat and looked at the paper again.  “I good businesswoman stands tall for herself.”

The troop all stood up even taller and Natasha saw Sam hid a grin behind a hand.  Tony nodded.

“Okay, that's two checks.  A good businesswoman has all her paperwork.”  Tony looked around. “Do you have order forms for your business product?”

A flurry of fluttering paper appeared above the group as everyone waved their papers at Tony.  He nodded. “Okay, so that another good check.” He squinted at the paper and glanced at the group again.  “Wait, wait. See, here Pepper, here it says, a good business woman shakes your hand when introduced. I haven’t been introduced.  And neither have my friends. How can we know?”

Pepper rolled her eyes but looked at the group, “Okay, since Mr Stark-”

“Tooonyyyyyy!”

“- _ Tony _ needs all his data.  Who will introduce themselves first?”

A few of the girls raised their hands, and Pepper urged a young blonde forward.  She held out her hand and Tony took it gently. He leaned forward as she said clearly, “Hello, Mr Stark, My name is Clarissa.  Its nice to meet you.”

“Thank you Clarissa, Its nice to meet a fine businesswoman like yourself.  Please call me Tony” Tony was suitably somber, with a hint of smile. Then Sam stepped forward.

“Wait, how come you guys will only introduce yourselves to Tony?  How about me?”

The troop laughed and a brunette pranced forward and did just that.  Natasha watched in amusement as the entire troup introduced themselves to various members of the Avengers and SI while Phil and Happy finished getting the security issues dealt with.

Finally Natasha saw them nod to Tony and the billionaire clapped his hands.  “Okay, I guess you’ve proven you’re businesswomen after all. Therefore, as Owner of Stark International, I give you permission to sell your product within my building!  But, we will have a business luncheon on 10th floor at 2, so don’t be late!”

As Tony talked, a group of mailroom runners appeared with carts.  “So pick a helper and a floor and go!”

The girls swarmed the mailrunners in pairs.  Each cart had a variety of selections and a list of floor numbers with room types.  For the rest of the day, JARVIS watched over the building as the girls traveled through the offices, calmly meeting scientists and engineers, selling cookies to office workers and researchers.  The labs that were safe enough for it, had little experiments the girls would be invited to join in and a few of the business women took time to talk with the girls about business as a career.

Clint hovered around the fire testing area, helping girls field test firing an automated torch at some new body armor.  Bruce, of course, found a lab to stay in. Steve and Sam made themselves useful with the mothers after Steve talked Tony into some food he was carrying around.  Pepper dragged Tony away initially, but he reappeared whenever meetings allowed.

JARVIS helped them recollect all the scouts at 2 for the luncheon, where any SI employee could come and sit and discuss different jobs with the girls.  Natasha even had a few want to talk to her about working in the military. They were just finishing the luncheon when Pepper stood up and got everyone’s attention.

“Hello, today has been a successful day for all of the business women in this group.  Not only have you sold enough boxes to pay for your camping trip in June…” Pepper halted as the cheers overwhelmed her voice.  Even the adults were clapping. Eventually they quieted down though. “As I was saying, not only do you have record sales, but you have made important connections.  Selling your product is only a part of being in business. Most of it is forming and maintaining connections. I hope you all made friends today and keep doing so. Congratulations!”

As she congratulated the troup again a large cake rolled out into the room.  The whole troup seemed thrilled. 

And Natasha could admit, this was a pretty great childhood experience for the girls.

Somehow, as she thought that, the screams of the Red Room were quieter than they ever had been before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, first: this was a surprise chapter, the request just had me writing and I wrote this in 2 hours. 
> 
> I did not intend for this to turn into a Natasha introspective piece, but wow that worked! I was a girl scout for a few years and loved the cookie program!!! The girl scout cookie program really does exist to promote business acumen in young girls.
> 
> I still plan on another chapter with Bucky eventually


	3. Cookie for Every Situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said this was done, but surprise!!!!
> 
> Also, the ending makes more sense if you've read [Bucky](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21505390). But it's not necessary.

It was with Natasha, that Steve discovered the power of saving girl scout cookies.  His childhood with the Great Depression, meant that he hated finishing something off.  What if you need it and its gone? He could remember the first candy he earned with Bucky for helping out Mrs Hershey at the corner store.  Each had two of them and they ate the first together. Steve saved the second in a small tin in the back of his bedside drawer. It was there for years.  When his mother left for the sanitarium, he gave it to her. Bucky had kept his second one too. He gave it to Steve at Sarah’s wake.

The habit hadn’t disappeared when he started to acclimate to the future.  So, when the Girl Scout Troop toured the tower, he bought 2 extra boxes of each type of cookie, one to try for himself and one to save.  He didn’t have a set idea of when they would be needed, but he wanted some saved anyway. And Tony had been only too glad to add a box freezer to his suite.

Then the attack happened.  It wasn’t a special fight, particularly.  But a group of bots cornered a pair of young girls on the playground.  Natasha was the closest and she wasn’t certain she would reach them in time.  Steve could hear the strain in her voice as she threw one of her bites wildly.  It didn’t hit, but it did distract the bots, enough that Natasha’s leap got her there before the kids could get hurt.  

In her rush, Natasha didn’t calculate the landing quite right and her ankle twisted sharply.  Hawkeye called it, since the Black Widow didn’t cry out in pain. Iron Man picked her up almost immediately, Steve suspected JARVIS had predicted the issue even as Widow jumped.  She was fine and medical released her to hobble around the floor in annoyance. Clint tried to cheer her up with a movie, Shawshank Redemption, and her favorite snack, but she just sulked and said she didn’t feel like salty foods.  

Steve was watching Clint sigh and put the proscuitto back in the fridge when he remembered the saved Thin Mints.  Clint commented on how when Natasha got in this mood, she always wants mint. Steve asked him to dig out the good vanilla bean ice cream for her and he hurried to his floor.  A nice side effect of perfect memory was he could find things faster.  

Clint had the ice cream thawing on the counter and Steve got out a wide bowl.  He lined the bottom with thin mints and then scooped ice cream on top. He slid a row around the sides as well.  Then he stuck six cookies straight up in the ice cream in the shape of a smile. He took a few more and crumbled them over the whole thing.  Adding a spoon, and he showed it to Clint.  

Natasha’s grumpy frown split into a wide smile the moment she saw the bowl.  Although Steve had brought a spoon with the bowl, she used the cookies to scoop the ice cream.  The look on her face at the first bite showed the sweetest relief the comes from eating exactly what you crave combined with a touch of vulnerability that made Natasha so precious.  They watched Wreck-it Ralph while she finished off the treat. She fell asleep before the final race, leaning against Steve.

As Steve placed her on Clint’s bed to sleep and heal under his protective eye, she looked up at him.  “Thanks Steve,” she murmured sleepily.

Steve grinned happily to himself and started planning on what to do with the rest of the cookies he’d saved.

* * *

Steve used more of his secret stash of cookies earlier than he expected.  With Natasha out of commission for a week, they were spread a bit more thin when the next wave of bots returned.  Usually, Natasha backed Steve up, sparing a bit of attention for Hulk. That left Iron Man free to zoom around the field.  Without her, the gap was filled with Iron Man. It did mean that Iron Man was a little late at retrieving Clint when he got overrun in his sniper's nest.

Steve wasn’t sure who felt more guilty, him or Tony for that.  Clint wasn’t hurt, but he’d resorted to hand-to-hand er… bot combat while waiting for the pickup.  Iron Man had dropped him off at Coulson’s basecamp when that had taken Clint out of their fight.

Because the bots had broken his bow.

Steve knew Clint had multiple bows, and would use a different one should a fight come up before Tony could recreate that one.  That was how Tony apologized for these things, the team had discovered. He made awesome stuff. When they returned to the tower, Tony had taken one look at Clint cradling the pieces of his bow with a forlorn look, and the engineer had whisked them away to his workshop for scanning and “engineering goodness”.  Clint had looked after him a moment before softly requesting to JARVIS to make sure he ended up with those pieces back when Tony was done.

Steve watched as the archer gave everyone still in the room a snarky wave, a bit thinner a mask than usual, and hopped up to a vent opening.  Phil disappeared, helping a groggy Bruce to his bed. Steve had no doubt the scientist would join Tony in a few hours in an effort to help Clint too.

In the meantime, Steve had his own report to finish.  But first, he had a spy to update.  

He was under no illusion that Natasha hadn’t been watching all footage JARVIS could show her.  All the Avengers despised being out of commission. Natasha was no exception. Her history didn’t help how she felt when injured.  So the first stop Steve had in his mind was where she lounged on the common room couch. He was crossing the kitchen when he remembered the Girl Scout cookies he had hidden in his rooms.

The detour didn’t take long. He grabbed the s’mores cookies out of their hiding spot before jogging back to the main rooms.  He found Phil talking to Natasha. Actually, it sounded like the handler was trying to talk Natasha  _ out _ of something.

“You only have another few days off your feet, you don’t want to put yourself back.”  Phil’s pleading voice didn’t seem to affect Nastasha’s deepening frown. Steve sat next to them as Natasha bit her lip in a rare display of emotion.

“Phil, it was his  _ bow _ .  I know he’ll get over it. But he’s not over it yet.”

“That doesn’t mean you should go crawling in the vents with a sprained ankle.”  Phil didn’t look exasperated, to Steve’s relief, just calmly convincing.

Natasha shook her head.  “He- …. We can’t care normally.  One weapon goes down, lift another.”  She stopped a moment, glancing at Steve, who gave her an encouraging look.  “But its safe here. And Clint… Clint and I are both learning to let ourselves care about nice things.”

Steve realized what she was talking about.  Early on, Natasha and Clint both cared little for their weapons beyond readiness for battle.  As things stabilized at the Tower and both spies realized Tony’s offer of a permanent home was genuine and enduring, they’d started collecting their favorites.  Natasha had a few knives that she spent time and money on, cooing to them as she polished and sharpened the rippling steel. Likewise, Clint had started naming and settling with his bows.  It was a form of permanence that neither had ever been allowed much before.

Natasha nodded at Phil firmly, “I know he’ll be fine.  The bow did it’s job and he knows that. He’s just giving it a moment in...thanks, I suppose.  I don’t want him alone for it.”

Phil opened his mouth to continue the argument, but Steve beat him to it, “I can help.”  When Phil closed his mouth, willing to let Steve take this lead, Steve continued. “I can lift you to the nearest vent entrance.  JARVIS knows where he is.”

“Indeed, Captain.  Agent Barton is in the central nest above his kitchen.”

They all smiled at JARVIS’s comment.  Natasha nodded firmly. Phil sighed and finally nodded as well.  Steve stood, gathering Natasha carefully in his arms. He placed the box of cookies on her lap with a smile.

“My contribution.”

Her smile told him he’d handled this well.

* * *

The next girl scout cookie emergency was actually after the emergency.  Steve was dragging himself down the hallway, having stayed up an extra few hours following a long bot battle, so that he could finish his report.  He’d review it for alterations after some sleep, but he wanted the initial report in quickly. This fight had been a shit show, to use Tony’s term.  

Clint had fallen off a building and while Tony had caught him, he’d bounced off the collapsing building side first.  Then the bots had learned a great method to distract the Hulk, they shot him with little lasers. It didn’t hurt him, but it did annoy him.  Then the little buggers would dart away. They’d play this stupid keep away game with him until he caught them. Eventually Iron Man caught on and used his targeting systems to even the odds, but not before Hulk had gone through a bank building, including the vault.  The paperwork on that alone would be immense. Hulk had helped Iron Man a moment later when the armored man had crashed into a part of the L line when saving Natasha. Hulk had caught the train before it could hit the man, and the destroyed track. While that had probably saved a lot of lives, Hulk wasn’t a gentle person.  That had led to a lot of injuries.

While they had eventually finished the fight with the increasingly smart bots, the collateral damage on this one was excessive.  Steve had winced when he saw the financial analysis of this battle. While Tony’s foundations helped individuals, it wasn’t available to businesses.  Thus a lot of paperwork.

Which was why, as he dragged himself down the hallway of their offices, he saw Phil’s office light on.  Glancing in, he saw their normally cool and calm handler tearing his hair out as he stared at his desk.  

As it was going on 3 am, Steve thought he did really well figuring out what he was seeing after 5 minutes.  Phil looked like his energy had given out hours ago. Looking at him for a long minute more, Steve turned and headed for the kitchen.

“JARVIS, what kind of tea does Phil use for headaches?”  While he was waiting for the kettle to come to a boil, Steve hurried to his apartment and dug out his extra box of Thanks-a-lots.  JARVIS walked him through brewing a proper pot of tea before he carried the service carefully down the hallway to Phil office.  

The way Phil’s tired eyes lit up when he saw the cookies made Steve’s exhaustion melt away.  They spent the next few hours discussing the fight.

And having tea.

* * *

Steve had very little to do with Pepper on a regular basis.  They both were close to Tony and attempted to mitigate his eating and sleeping issues as best they could.  But with Pepper’s activities centering on Stark International and Steve being the head of the Avengers, they didn’t see much of each other.  JARVIS passed messages as one or the other needed and they definitely coordinated to keep _Tony_ from being too overwhelmed, but nothing face to face.

However, some conversations, Steve firmly believed needed to be face to face.  Even with all their work and communications, inevitably somethings had to be missed, especially given the unpredictable nature of the Avenger’s line of work.  Like a fundraiser for Firefighters the evening after a bot battle. When Tony plowed through the L line during that battle, trashed was too gentle a word for the results on the train system and on his suit.  This led to Tony needing first, sleep. But then time to fix the suit and presence at the railway station to keep the vultures happy. Tony had already done his usual apology gift basket and groveling to Pepper before hightailing his way to the next task.

What Tony didn’t know was that Pepper had let him off on a few SI meetings so that Steve would ensure the Firefighters Fundraiser was free.  They had gone around on it for days, trying to cover everything. That had even been confirmed only two days earlier.

Steve sighed.  He knew Pepper couldn’t really lose her temper with Tony.  He was too...Tony for that. Pepper knew that. Steve even knew that.  So he’d go and apologize and let her lose her temper at him.

And his mother always taught him to do apologies in person.

She also taught him not to visit empty handed.

On JARVIS’s advise, Steve dug out his stock of Do-Si-Dos.  Apparently they paired with a Zinfandel. He also, under Natasha’s suggestion made a plate of grilled pork sausage and mini sliders to surround the DoSiDos.  Tony had waved him in the direction of his wine collection as soon as he’d mentioned it was for Pepper. Luckily JARVIS gave a more specific bit of advise as Tony’s head went promptly beck inside his suit’s chest piece.  

He found the exhausted CEO at the elevators just an hour after the gala ended.  She looked beyond fed up with people. Her suit dress still pressed pristine, but her hair already escaping her hair stick and her handbag carelessly gripped by its corner.  Steve raised the glass and plate with a sheepish look.  

For a moment, it didn’t seem to register that he wasn’t another rich glamorous attendee to talk into donating, but rather Steve, a friend.  Then she evaluated the plate and glass critically and sighed.

“What’s he done now?”

Steve gave her an apology grin, “Nothing.  I just wanted to apologize.”

Pepper sighed and strode to the sofa where she sat down primly.  “The battle wasn’t your fault, Steve. We’ve been over this.”

“I know.” Steve knelt in front of her and handed her the glass.  The open bottle was in a wine saver on the center table. He set the plate of goodies next to her and reached down to remove her heels.  That was always Pepper’s signal that she could relax, according to Tony. “But I promised, and I couldn’t keep it. I’m sorry.”

Steve pressed his thumb into the ball of her foot as Peggy had taught him handled her feet after high heels.  Pepper moaned and slide down on the couch. She opened one eye and flopped a hand over to pick up a cookie. Biting into it, she groaned in happiness.  Taking a sip of her wine, Steve grinned as she picked up a BBQ slider. That too disappeared in a few bites and happy grumbles of pleasure.

As Steve picked up her second foot, she looked at him, “Okay, fine.  You can apologize all you want if this is how you do it. I don’t even want to know how you learned my favorite cookies.”  

Steve chuckled and sat on the table corner to pour her another glass.  

Mission Success!

* * *

Steve found himself wondering if he should put together another evening of wine after the next gala.  It was an environmental fundraiser that Tony attended from the clean energy contingent. Bruce went too, being a supporter of pro-environmental science.  Pepper had decided to leave this particular gala in their capable hands. Tony could handle the shmoozing and Bruce could handle Tony.

In theory, it was a good idea.

In practice, it usually worked well.  Bruce was attention-shy enough and firm enough with Tony to drag him back from some of his more flamboyant ideas.  However, this time, it did not work.

Steve didn’t catch some of what happened.  There was a group of investors. Companies were against new restrictions.  Claims of scientist being unreasonable or unrealistic shouted. Then someone pushed someone.  Someone shouted at someone.  

And the Hulk shouted at everyone.

Steve sighed as Tony darted off to talk to Fury.  He made a mental note to check in on the director following such a conversation.  Until then, he made his way to the rooms Tony had designed for their large, green comrade.  Hulk hadn’t remained once he realized he was yelling at “puny, stick figures with big mouth and no mean things”.  Without the weapons or physical strength to stand up to him, the scientist and investors bored Hulk silly. Tony, naturally, had continued the discussion, ignoring the elephant, or Hulk, in the room.  Eventually one of the investors decided the Hulk was actually harmless as he devoured sliced roast. This resulting in the investor yelling at Tony about costs and profit margins. When his big green teammate hadn’t twitched at the shouting, the investors got confident and actually shoved Tony back.  

That did not end well.  

No injured were reported, but the banquet hall had a new exit to the gardens.  Tony thought the night went fine, Bruce didn’t agree. Since Tony was stuck convincing Fury and local LEOs of that, it was up to Steve to visit their less-than-happy scientist.

He smiled to himself as he dug out his last box of Samoas.  Crushing several into a blender, he added milk and ice cream for a cookie milkshake.  He’d seen Bruce drink them before as a comfort food of sorts.  

He handed the glass to the depressed man as he sat on the floor next to him.  Steve stayed with him for four hours until Tony came to take over. Bruce drank the whole milkshake.

And it made him smile.

* * *

After he finished calming Bruce and then leaving him with his best sciencebro, Steve went looking for Phil.  JARVIS located him immediately and Steve had no trouble asking after Fury’s location. If the director had left for the day, Steve would have shrugged and headed to bed himself, but the Director was in the office Tony had thrown together for him on the 78th floor.

A brief conversation with JARVIS confirmed the likely irritation Fury was undergoing as he tried to explain to multiple parties why the Hulk was better off with the Avengers.  When Steve peeked in, Fury was just hanging up his phone and already writing on a pad of paper.  

“In or out!  Today I won’t tolerate lurking, Rogers.”

Steve grinned as he stepped across the threshold.  Fury glanced at him briefly, “What do you need?”

Steve stopped and stood at attention, “Wondering if you have all the information you need, Sir.”

Fury sighed through his nose before waving at Steve, “Get out of here!  Shoo!”

Steve frowned as he beat a hasty retreat rather than irritate the spymaster further.  Glancing back, he had an idea.

Although he’d surprised many of his teammates by now, he hadn’t ever thought he’d be doing it to Fury.  Still, Steve set a tray of coffee and the Savannah Smiles outside the door. He heard Fury snort from around the corner as he grabbed the tray.  Close enough to a smile for him.

* * *

In many ways, Sam was a rock Steve clung to in this new era.   While Tony continued to introduce Steve to the technology of the time, he lacked the more pedestrian perspective.  Sam brought that to the table. Tony never had to worry about job hunting or saving a paycheck except in the abstract, Sam did.  Tony never considered attending a community college part time or getting an online education, Sam had. Tony couldn’t waltz into a sports bar for a drink with the guys, Sam loved it.   Throughout their friendship, Steve had used Sam as a guidepost for exploring the less fantastical and more day-to-day aspects that he should know.

Steve knew a thing or two about regular life, though.  More to the point, he knew a thing or two about being a soldier who'd lost someone and trying to live a regular life.  Bucky’s death had hit him hard, but he’d had time to process. Granted, the man’s semi-return had thrown him for a loop, but he did remember the feeling of loss.

When he’d first met Sam, one of the things he’d recognized instantly had been that sense of loss.   _ We all got the same problems.  Guilt, Regret… _

They had low-key bonded over that, even if Sam didn’t know it.  So when Steve returned to the tower, one of the things he did was look up Sam’s service record, and by extension, Riley’s.  It was a fascinating career before its end, with numerous rescue ops and bold moves, Steve could see why Sam had morphed into Avenger material out of this training.

He also located the day Riley fell.  

It wasn’t a particularly bad weather day, when it came around again.  Steve didn’t have to squint in eternal sunshine, but it wasn’t raining or any other dramatically bad weather.  He’d snagged Sam early enough in the day to prevent the man from hermitting himself, Pepper’s phrase.  

Instead, Steve dragged him to a bar they patroned regularly, Rabbit Hut.  A strange little sports bar with a short bartender who ran it with an iron fist.  Including a rule against any photography. Steve had loved the place as soon as Sam had introduced it to him.  For this occasion, Steve had spoken to George ahead of time, securing a table in a corner by the pool table.

Sam had huffed when Steve ordered him a pale ale instead of let the man order his own drink.  When he complained, Steve just grinned, “Nothin' else will go.”

Sam had rolled his eyes, but followed the supersoldier back to the table.  A pizza landed on the table a little while later as they watched some kid hustle a pair of loudly racist rednecks.  Steve was prepared to jump in should the drunk bigots decide to get physical when the kid takes them for their worth.

As the pizza disappeared, Steve pulled a packet out of his bag at his feet and opened it.  Sam’s eye lit up.

“How do you still had lemonades left?” he snarked as he grabbed his favorite girl scout cookie.  Steve grinned.

“Saving them for a special day.”

Sam snorted.  He launched into a story about Riley and one time he horded chocolates.  A bad idea in a desert, it turned out. Steve chuckled and responded with the first chocolate he and Bucky had split.  They’d bought two, but on the way home Bucky had given his to Amelia because she missed her mother. Bucky was nice like that.  So Steve had shared his.

They traded stories through the bigots getting tossed out and another pair of guys losing to the kid.  As George was cleaning up, Steve stood, grabbing Sam’s swaying arm. He’d had a few more than normal.

As they walked down the street, Steve heard Sam slur, “Thanks man.  But you know, I’m not that fond of ale.”

Steve snorted.  “yeah, but its the best beer for Lemonade cookies.”

Sam just smiled.

* * *

Steve’s relationship with Thor was very different than his relationship with the others.  In many ways Thor was more a comrade than other Avengers by simple experience in leading. Steve felt he could show the burden of command around the godling.  Not just because Thor knew what it was to lead, but because he knew what it was to realize you are in over your head when leading and still need to figure it out anyway.  

The two also had a bonding point of lost brothers.  Remarkably similar, Loki and Bucky were thought dead and then returned only to side with evil.  He once heard Thor describe Loki’s mind as “far afield” and it fit perfectly, not only with the Jotenhiem, but also with Steve’s own blood brother.  

Often this type of longing would ambush them without warning and it could take time and sometimes delicate maneuvering to detangle from.  While with general irritation and emotional upset, both took to the sparring grounds, or barring that, whaling on something, be it a punching bag or a summer storm.  Nonetheless, the melancholy that trailed after memories of their lost brothers rarely lent itself to such activities. As such, they found themselves seeking each other’s company for long talks.  

It was during one of these talks that Steve brought his stash of Toffeetastic Girl Scout cookies.  The godling had taken to testing all the cookies with the same verve he brought to nearly anything in his life, announcing that Toffeetastic the champion of cookies following the event.  

His love of poptarts well established by this point, setting these cookies as a top ten got attention, quickly.  Steve had immediately tucked some away for a rainy day. Loki qualified.

Although they all were aware that Loki was confined in a cell on Asgard, Thor often lamented that his brother was still out of reach, a feeling Steve could relate to.

_ Who the hell is Bucky? _

So today, they occupied a balcony, slowly munching these cookies and sharing stories.  Thor told of Loki’s complete hatred of anything related to goats. Of his secret children, whom Thor would not name, and how he was the only one in all of Asgard who had met any of them, even though it was well established that they existed.  He told of revenge pranks, noting that Loki rarely started a prank war, but he frequently finished them.

Steve laughed as he returned with stories of Bucky’s run in with the local butcher, whose daughter had told that Bucky took her on a date, falsely mind you.  And then Bucky’s reputation spreading until all the girls gushed over him and all the brothers watched him closely. The docks, where Bucky worked hard to afford a roof over his family’s head and the draft, which offered more money than the docks could.  The jokes Bucky would pull on the Howlies and how bad he was a dodging the revenge pranks.

Full of good stories and tasty cookies, they both sat companionably on the balcony, watching the sun rise over the buildings.

Steve huffed as a thought entered his mind, “You know, we celebrate a holiday your brother would love.”

“Oh? I do not believe Loki ever had a holiday for himself.  Unlike my upbringing, I am learning just how much my parents and the advisers of Asgard belittled his influence.  Tis a shame since I do think he would have been my greatest adviser.” Thor sighed before glancing in question at Steve.

“In April there is a holiday, All Fools Day.  It is an entire day where you play pranks on each other.  When you end the prank you call the other person an April Fool.”  Steve laughed, “Buck and I used to get up to some really fun stuff on that day.  Ma would get so exasperated. She’d say, ‘Really boys! What sprite has caught you this time?’ and frown at us.”  Steve laughed again, grabbing another cookie. “She always had a smile in her eye when she said it though.”

“Aye, mothers are good at that, I’ve found.”  Thor agreed. “And I like this holiday. Let us celebrate it here when it next comes!  I shall make Loki so envious with pranks, that he shall beg to join in the mischief!”

Both laughed and started planning the pranks for the next April.  All the while eating the cookies.

* * *

Although Steve had saved each and every type of cookie, he hadn’t ever predicted he’d need them quite in the way he’d used them.  As a way to jolly his team out of a bad mood. Tony’s were the last ones to be needed of the entire team.

For one thing, Tony had support in the form of Bruce, Pepper and Rhodes.  For another, Steve and Tony were still looking for their footing, even after Tony promised to help with finding Bucky.  Steve kept at it though, determined to work through all the awkwardness from Howard’s influence, on both of them, to their horrid first argument.  As such, he became very familiar with Tony’s schedule and its effect on their resident engineer.  

For example, if Pepper absolutely had to have Tony be CTO at SI, Tony spent the days leading up to it in a fevered, manic bout of product engineering.  Then following the meetings, he’d stalk around their home for hours, thoroughly exasperated and perfectly willing to explain idiocy to anyone within range, should someone actually ask.  

Or when he and Bruce succeeded in some new scientific something, Tony would walk around elated, following Bruce happily into the kitchen for food or to a bedroom for actual sleeps.  

Steve learned all these moods.  It wasn’t easy, like sparring was.  Tony had two levels of tells, the obvious and the subtle.  The obvious ones were very obvious, and only half the story.  They told of  _ what _ happened: meeting, invention,  _ car chase _ .  But the more subtle tells, those showed the effect on Tony.  Those were the difference between a manager agreeing to do a project or scorning Tony’s contribution.  Those were the difference between solving a problem for fun or to fix something someone broke.

So Steve had made it something of an art-form, to watch Tony Stark.  If they weren’t friends, he wondered if it would be creepy. JARVIS liked that he did this, but JARVIS’s definition of creepy was the feeling  of a human’s subconscious trying to inform the conscious mind of possible danger or threat. Steve tried to explain they weren’t quite the same thing, but they got all twisted around and Steve finally told JARVIS to consult Phil, who was more articulate on such matters, or Bruce, who had a better memory for definitions.

So Steve often found himself Tony-watching.

And today, his Tony-watching skills were setting off all sorts of alarms.  

Tony hadn’t been doing anything particularly stressful.  Mostly tinkering, being up to date, for once, with Pepper and happily ignoring all other requests until Thursday, his self proclaimed consulting hours.  But Steve watched as Tony grabbed the coffee with far more force than necessary. The liquid sloshed in warning, but Tony poured it too fast anyway, spilling a bit on the counter.  Tony downed the whole mug of only mildly steaming coffee before refilling his mug again. The pot was placed back with a clink and Steve set down his pad of paper as Tony grabbed the mug handle and swanned out of the room.

Steve sighed and put his pad away, “JARVIS, do you know why Tony’s upset?”

“Sir received a most distressing bit of news today regarding Col Rhodes.”  JARVIS’s immediate reply told Steve all he needed to know about the AI’s desire for someone to talk to the inventor, the closest thing the AI had to a father.

“Has he eaten today?”

“Sir has consumed 5 protein bars in the last 12 hours.”   _ And no sleep _ went unsaid, but Steve heard it anyway.  So Tony didn’t necessarily need food, but protein bars, while filling were not always satisfying and Tony had a sweet tooth.

Steve heaved himself out of the chair, “Has Tony locked down the workshop?”

“Not yet.” JARVIS’s subtle warning that Tony may yet do so had Steve hurrying.  He grabbed a jug of milk, two glasses and a bowl, onto which he emptied a box of Tagalongs.  Placing all this on a tray, he made for the elevator, snagging his pad on the way, just in case Tony didn’t want to talk.

When he got to the workshop, the music near about took out his eardrums.  But Tony wasn’t bopping his head to the beat. Instead he was frowning in a way that made Steve think he was clenching his teeth as he hammered at a dented bit of armor.

Wincing at the sheer volume of noise in the workshop, Steve placed his tray on a far corner before getting Tony’s attention.  Once, he had not done that, and Tony had spun, startled, and knocked the whole meal to the floor.  

Much like that time, Tony spun, swinging his hammer in a way that had Steve ducking back.  “Whoa! Steve?” Tony shouted as he motioned for the music to lower in volume.

Steve eyed the hammer, still in Tony’s hands warily.  “You looked like you needed-”

“Look, don’t worry, I’m fine!  I don’t need sleep or lunch, I’ve eaten today, or a hug or a movie or any other fucking mother-hen thing.  I’m a grown ass man and I can handle myself! Grown men can handle lots of things! They are trained to handle lots of things.  Things like food and shelter and hostages and ...lots of things!” Tony’s words spewed out faster and faster as his arms waved at Steve, still bearing the hammer.

“Are we still talking about meals?” Steve asked.

Tony huffed a moment before his shoulders slumped a bit and Steve almost hugged him anyway for how exhausted he looked.  “What do you want Steve?” The question was just so worn, as if Tony had depleted his stored energy already.

“I brought cookies.”

Tony perked up slightly, with a ghost of a smirk.  “C-cookies?”

Steve pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the tray.  “Girl Scout Cookies. I have on good authority that no other cookie melts like a Tagalong.”

Tony smiled weakly at that and Steve directed his shoulders to the couch before retrieving the cookies.  Tony took one immediately and began playing with it. Steve had seen him do this before, waiting for the cookie to melt a bit before practically slurping the gooey mess.

“You know, Rhodes is pretty well trained.” Steve said nonchalantly as he poured the two glasses of milk.

“Of course he is!  My Honey-bear is the best they have!  And War Machine will kick ass! Not Iron Patriot, psh!  Whoever is responsible for their PR is deaf and blind.” Tony bit the cookie savagely.  Steve held out the bowl of cookies, knowing better than to try to hand Tony the glass of milk.  He’d drink it eventually. 

Tony grabbed another cookie to play with.  They were quiet for a moment as he played with this cookie too.  Eventually, he spoke softly, “When you were in Europe, did you ever have to go in blind?”

Steve snorted.  “I’m pretty sure Azzano was as blind as you get when you know the location of your target.  But yeah, a couple of times all we had was ‘Here there be Hydra’ and off we went.”

Tony wasn’t looking at him as he continued to fiddle with the cookie, even though Steve was sure it was plenty soft by this point.  “Yeah. They train you for that.”

“They try. Experience helps too.” Steve agreed.

Tony didn’t seem to hear him.  “They- I’m not supposed to know Rhodey’s top secret missions.  But this one. They don’t- The odds aren’t good this time. I just-”

Steve sighed softly, “There’s a reason families aren’t told about the dangerous missions.”

Tony frowned, “I’m not going to call Mama Rhodes up and tell her!  I’m not stupid.”

“I meant you, you idiot.”  Steve said fondly, ruffling Tony’s hair before he yanked himself away, squawking indignantly.  “You’re Rhodey’s family.”

Tony quieted as he finally picked up the milk and downed a long gulp with the cookie.  “Yeah.”

Steve huffed, “Okay, since we are waiting on him, we get to watch that movie he keeps telling me to put off, Rush Time?”

“Rush Hour!” Tony giggled. “Rush Time, oh I’m calling it that!”

Steve watched as Tony rolled on the couch giggling, letting out all that nervous energy finally.  Steve sighed and waved at JARVIS to start the movie while the goof next to him cackled up a storm.

They were halfway through Rush Hour 3 (why did they make so many?) by the time Rhodes’ mission lead checked in.  

And Tony had eaten all the Tagalongs.

* * *

Last year, on Bucky’s birthday, Steve had huddled himself alone in his room.  The rest of his team had found him and stayed with him the whole afternoon. They’d even gotten him a cake.  Steve had been so grateful to his team. This year, he promised himself that he’d at least make it out of his room, even if he didn’t feel up to what Tony called ‘adulting’.

Sam had probably been warned, because he wasn’t in his running gear when Steve appeared at the common kitchen table.  Steve was still shivering. Sam heated up some oatmeal as Steve curled deeper into his blankets. As the rest of the team appeared and devoured oatmeal in their own fashion, Steve relaxed a bit.  No one was expecting him to talk, but they kept him company. People cycled in and out of the room for much of the day, but Steve never found himself alone.  

Even Rhodes stopped by, saying Tony had a special request.  Steve had almost chuckled at Rhodes look of resignation. Tony’s ‘special’ requests ranged from insignificant to absurd and everything in between.

Still, Rhodes sat with him until Clint returned from his shower.  Around 4 in the afternoon, most of the Avengers reappeared in the kitchen.  Steve didn’t really notice until Bruce showed up without a tablet. The man rarely left his lab without one unless to meditate.  The general consensus seemed to be for lunch, but they were snacking so that was out. The mystery almost distracted Steve.

Then Tony appeared.  Naturally Tony would be the ring leader in any crazy plan involving all of them.  Behind him trotted Rhodes and Phil, each carrying bags. Tony then began chuffing people around the counter.  Bruce took over control of the bags and ingredients covered the counter-top.  

Steve had to stand to see better as Bruce directed Sam and Rhodes to start the measuring of the dry ingredients and Tasha directed Clint and Phil on the wet ingredients.  Tony directed his attention to the oven, discussing timers and temperatures with JARVIS.  

The first time they mixed the dry ingredients, Rhodes covered himself in flour.  Tony cackled at his best friend as Bruce sighed and worked with Sam to stir the dries safely.  Steve chuckled as Rhodes finally tackled the giggling engineer and both ended up completely covered.

Clint and Phil worked much more exactingly, following Tasha’s instructions as if on an op.  The whisking proceeded through the wet ingredients easily enough. Steve leaned forward to grab a few eggs that had escaped Clint’s attention as he stole some sugar from Sam.  

Tony and Bruce discussed ( _ argued) _ about size and shape as Phil set balls of dough on the cooking sheets.  Tony did snag one sheet to make into different shapes to test how they effected the results.  _ “Science!  Its a thing!”   _ Steve made note in his mind that the smaller shapes should come out of the oven first.

The first batch came out only slightly burned.  The whole group shrugged and decided to hide the evidence and try again.  

Steve got the first taste.

They made almost 9 trays of cookies, more than 50 cookies, not that many survived the cooling process.  Steve chuckled as he finished rubbing a flour-ed apron into Clint’s sandy hair. He saw Tony standing back watching them all with a smile.  Steve plucked two more cookies and leaned against the same wall.

“This was a good idea.”

Tony grinned and accepted the ‘Thank-you’ cookie.  “Yeah, even you would be out of Girl scout cookies by now.  Turns out the original recipe is online.”

Steve laughed.  He remembered helping Bucky and Rikki make cookies for her to sell.  They didn’t make quite as much of a mess. But this was good too.  

Steve took another bite of the cookie, slightly crispy.  It tasted just like Rikki’s.

_ Happy Birthday Buck _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may return to this with Bucky, I dunno. FO rthe moment I think its done. But I thought that before *shrug*
> 
> What do you think?

**Author's Note:**

> My mind totally saw a squealing Tony and Clint over a picture of Fury eating the cookies!!!!!
> 
> Also, I know you can't actually buy all these cookies from the same place, but it was fun to imagine.
> 
> Comment moderation out of habit


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